US Politics
Kristi Noem refuses to apologize for calling Renee Good and Alex Pretti ‘domestic terrorists’
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem refused to apologize for labelling two American citizens killed by federal agents “domestic terrorists” during a heated exchange with a Democratic lawmaker Wednesday.
At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin offered Noem the chance to address her past remarks about Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse. The two American citizens were fatally shot in separate incidents earlier this year by federal agents, during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
“Only a few hours after they were gunned down by your agents, you called Renee a domestic terrorist,” Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, said. “You said Alex committed an act of domestic terrorism.
“I want to give a chance before the entire country to correct your false and defamatory claim. Based on what you know today, madam secretary, were Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists?”
Noem responded that both incidents were “an absolute tragedy,” prompting Raskin to interject and repeat his question.
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“I offer my condolences to their families because I know that their lives will never be the same,” Trump’s Homeland Security secretary said.
She said that she was operating on information from a “chaotic scene” and noted that both deaths are the subject of ongoing investigations.
“But you didn’t wait for the investigation did you?” Raskin responded, again asking whether she would apologize or express remorse for her remarks.
“I offer my condolences to those families,” she said. “My heart is with them.”
At a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing last month, both ICE acting director Todd Lyons, and Customs and Border Protection commissioner Rodney Scott, denied that they or their staff used the “domestic terrorist”label to describe Alex Pretti.
“Did you provide Secretary Noem with an assessment of what Mr. Pretti was engaged in, and that he was engaged in domestic terrorism?” asked Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, the committee’s top Democrat.
Both Lyons and Scott testified that they did not tell her that. When asked whether anyone who reports to him provided her with that assessment, Scott replied: “Not to my knowledge, sir.”
Later Wednesday, Noem faced questions from Rep. Lou Correa, a California Democrat, who accused federal agents of repeatedly asking Americans to produce their citizenship documents, creating an atmosphere of unease.
“What do you suggest I tell my citizens back home,” Correa said. “Have a passport with you all the time?”
“I would tell your citizens to be grateful they live in this country where President Trump is upholding the law,” Noem responded. “We will voluntarily help them self deport if they would like to.”
“These are American citizens, ma’am,” Correa responded.
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On Tuesday, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee also berated the DHS secretary for sticking by her categorization of Good and Pretti as domestic terrorists, which they slammed as premature and inflammatory.
“The fact you can’t admit to a mistake — which looks like, under investigation, is going to prove that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and in the back,” Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said.
“You believe calling the victims of violence ‘domestic terrorists’ is a way to calm the scene?” Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, also asked.
Some 65 percent of Americans, believe ICE has gone too far in enforcing immigration law, according to a recent Marist poll.
